Urbanization in Tokyo - Essay Example

Urbanization in Tokyo Nowadays the world is changing very rapidly. The evidences of this process are obvious: development of the newest technologies, innovations in all spheres of human activity ranging from art to healthcare and, of course, considerable shifts in population. As a result of the latter, the process of urbanizations occurs. This is the phenomenon of people moving from rural areas into larger cities, motivated by different factors. In general, urbanization tends to have positive outcomes. Cities become centers of economic growth and cultural development, they offer jobs and better opportunities for newcomers. Daniel Runde, a Forbes Contributor, suggests that urban growth can make city dwellers healthier, more productive and more educated (Runde 2015). In the same time, urbanization can bring about irreversible negative changes. Countless challenges arise when more and more people move to cities. This can be seen in modern biggest metropolitan areas. According to the 2012 census, the biggest and the most populated city in the world is Tokyo (Population of World’s 100 Largest cities). It greatly outstrips other megacities in population and also faces far more negative consequences of urbanisation. In “World Urbanization Prospects” the United Nations says that future urbanization will take place mostly in Asia and African regions, and it forecasts that Tokyo will remain the world’s biggest city till 2030. In fact, the rate of city growth is already the highest in these regions. The rural population, on the contrary, is expected to stay relatively unchanged until 2020s, when it will start to decline. (World Urbanization Prospects 2014). So, in order to eschew possible problems connected with urbanization, it is essential to illustrate the challenges, which Tokyo faces nowadays, and provide worthy solutions. Urbanization is attributable mostly to economic factors. Millions of people migrate to larger cities in the search for better opportunities, higher incomes and more comfortable level of life. It leads to economic development of the whole country and its industrialization. So, right now urbanization is a characteristic feature more of developing countries, than of already developed ones. Daniel Runde claims that this process will inevitably change the developing world, provided that it is governed skillfully. “If the cities are equipped with right leaders, strategies, and financing, urbanization can bring about immense positive changes…” (Runde 2015, ‘Urbanization Will Change The (Developing) World’, para. 3). As a result of global urbanization, more than half of world’s population lives now in big cities rather than in rural areas. It is a huge shift, as earlier the things appeared to be vice versa. Tokyo is one of the brightest examples of cities which undergo accelerated growth both in size and population. This process does not flow smoothly, but evokes several pitfalls. Those pitfalls accompany urbanization of Japan’s capital and may turn into some serious problems. To sort them out, the peculiarities of Tokyo as a megacity should be considered at first. It is in many prospects different from other world biggest cities. To begin with, it is one of the global cities which is governed by a metropolitan government (Vogel). Most of Japan’s economy, business, finance and industry are situated in its capital. It is in fact a decentralized metropolis. Despite its size, Tokyo is not the most densely populated city in the world. Actually, it is less dense than London, Hong Kong or Dhaka. Wendell Cox ties this to two reasons. The first one is popularity of detached housing in Tokyo suburbs, which contributes to lower density of the city. The second reason is that Tokyo is evenly populated, without any preferences to one particular district. Unlike New York, this city does not have dense central areas, like Manhattan (Cox 2012). Tokyo region includes Yokohama, Kawasaki, Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa. Actually, it is hard to define Tokyo region accurately, as many possible variations can be named. These areas have the biggest population, comparing with the suburbs of New York or Paris. It is also interesting that urbanization in Tokyo is not accompanied with Japan national population growth. In other words, overall population of the country even decreases while Tokyo accepts millions of citizens. This is called centralization, when rural inhabitants move to huge metropolitan megacities. When this happens, cities face some urban problems. With the expansion of population and Tokyo Metropolitan Area, the demands for all kinds of resources increase too. Those resources include both domestic and industrial water and energy supply. Moreover, there is a disturbing issue of waste utilization. In Tokyo, an average citizen produces more than a kilo of waste which should be collected daily (Urban Problems, Solutions and Innovations). These, of course, are quite serious obstacles which demand straightaway reaction, but still not the most disturbing. If we take a closer look at the ecological situation in Tokyo, we will see how massive urbanization has contributed to its depletion. To outline the ecological footprint of Tokyo, scientists have calculated that more than 45,000,000 ha area is needed to sustain the city, provide raw materials and process the wastes (The Ecological Footprints of Tokyo). According to the Earth Council report, this is 1.2 times the area of the whole country. Basically, the ecological crisis is looming upon Tokyo, as there are not enough natural resources to sustain so many people. Air pollution is another side of Tokyo’s ecological problem. After the rise of population, increasing number of cars and industrial objects, the air in this region is in deplorable condition. The quality of air is indicated by the amount of suspended particulate matter. Its increased concentration can be caused by exceeding emissions of waste gases into the atmosphere from industrial objects, personal and public vehicles (Urbanization and Urban Air Pollution). Unless some preventive measures are taken to delimit concentration of those particles in the air, it can cause various respiratory diseases, heart diseases and other conditions. However, Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) has experience in taking creative measures against such problems. J. Okata and A. Murayama noted that as a result of urbanization, numerous factories, building heating systems and automobile traffic increased the level of sulfur dioxide in the air (Okata & Murayama 2010). To solve this problem TMG has started the “No Diesel Strategy” campaign and at the beginning of the 2000s this strategy was already implemented. According to it, driving, selling and buying diesel vehicles were abolished. New taxation strategies were implemented on diesel fuel in order to reduce its usage. Furthermore, commercial diesel vehicles were to be replaced by alternative gasoline ones. This concerned different service and maintenance cars such as garbage collectors, refrigerators, concrete mixers and trucks. The changes were applied not only to already existing cars, but also dealt with new developments in machinery. New gas purifying devices were designed and new cars were developed, which would meet ecological requirements. As a result of this campaign, “No Diesel Strategy” was implemented in 2003 which drastically reduced air pollution in Tokyo. Moreover, from 2005 a new formula of sulfur free diesel fuel was developed, so that the ecological situation was no longer aggravated by subsequent sulfur air pollution. As it was already mentioned, Tokyo is the biggest and most populated city in the world, therefore, it has inevitable influence on other cities, and it cannot be unheeded. Tokyo air pollution is unfortunately one of the engines of global warming which the world is witnessing now. Carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere are so evident right now that this pollution is visible even to the naked eye. Diana Wong suggests that the temperature rise in Tokyo can be explained by peculiar absorbent surfaces throughout the city (Wong 2006). Those are asphalt, concrete, air conditioners, cars that generate additional heat and tall buildings which do not allow air breezes to flow. In this respect Tokyo Metropolitan Government has designed the second solution to combat poor ecological situation in the area. It implemented “Stop Global Warming, Tokyo Strategy” to reduce greenhouse gas outburst (Okata & Murayama 2010). According to this strategy, each large-scale factory, office, commercial and public facilities had to design a five-year plan to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. Moreover, Metropolitan Government recommended establishing gardens on building roofs and even walls. This greening resulted in additional oxygen production and reduction of carbon dioxide in the air. To crown this effect, the average temperature on roofs has fallen from almost 60°C to 38.6°C (Wong 2006). In domestic sector greenhouse gas emission is mostly attributable to excessive usage of electricity. TMG has encouraged people to buy and use energy saving appliances that would use much less electricity and therefore decrease air pollution. In collaboration with some home appliances retailers Tokyo shops started selling such devices in 2002, and, according to J. Okata and A. Murayama, it helped to achieve awaited results. So, massive urbanization in Tokyo has had several negative consequences and challenges. It was impossible to avoid those irrevocable pitfalls, taking into account the accelerated pace of people’s migration. It is extremely difficult to govern such a huge city and satisfy the demands of millions of citizens. However, Tokyo Metropolitan Government has made a great job meeting the city’s requirements and designed complicated strategies to satisfy the needs of this megacity. Apart from shortage of resource supply and waste problems, the most serious and threatening negative outcome of urbanization is air pollution. Tokyo’s ecological situation is far from satisfactory and is getting worse. Most wonders of civilization, which alleviate people’s life, such as air conditioning, personal vehicles and industrial objects, aggravate Tokyo’s ecology in global sense. TMG has implemented two solutions to address this issue. The first one concerned diesel fuel and diesel vehicles. Some of them were completely abolished, and some were reorganized to use gasoline. All these steps were taken to reduce sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere and improve the quality of air. The second solution concerned global warming and greenhouse effect. To solve this ecological problem, TMG encouraged greening rooftops and walls of high buildings, using energy saving devices and fostered commercial facilities to reduce their greenhouse gas emission. Both of these two solutions can be evaluated as effective and wise steps towards sustainability of ecology in Tokyo. It is important to think about health of present citizens and that of future generations. Our duty is to ensure stability, confidence and prosperity for our descendants and not to doom them to live in a nasty and dirty world. It was mentioned that Tokyo is predicted to stay the biggest city up to 2030s. It means that more and more urbanization challenges are waiting to face the capital of Japan. So, in order for this city to thrive, prosper and get through all obstacles, further steps should be taken towards the improvement of its ecology. Alongside with already existing strategies, new ones should be implemented. J. Okata and A. Murayama write that there already exists a plan of TMG which implies developing infrastructure of Tokyo and raising the city to higher standards. According to this plan the capital will be surrounded by water and green corridors, new ring roads will be constructed, and disaster-proof strategies will be applied. It is possible to fulfill this plan by energy saving technologies, renewable resources, building sustainable network of roads and maintaining the ecological balance in the area. Works Cited Cox, W 2012, ‘The Evolving Urban Form: Tokyo’, New Geography. Available from: http://www.newgeography.com/content/002923-the-evolving-urban-form-tokyo. Okata, J & Murayama, A 2010 ‘Tokyo’s Urban Growth, Urban Form and Sustainability’. Available at: http://www.google.com.ua/url?url=http://www.springer.com/cda/content/document/cda_downloaddocument/9784431992660-c1.pdf%3FSGWID%3D0-0-45-1032448-p173898642&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&sa=U&ei=CvyaVYq9BqOlygP5irjwBA&ved=0CBMQFjAA&usg=AFQjCNFIRfnjmlhxAFo2Y3VATxZLlNXQuA. Population of World’s 100 Largest Cities. Available from: http://www.worldatlas.com/citypops.htm. Revkin, AC 2014, ‘In Urbanization Update, U.N. Sees Tokyo Atop Megacities List Until 2030’, The New York Times. Available from: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/10/in-u-n-population-update-tokyo-still-tops-list-of-megacities/?_r=4. Runde, D 2015 ‘Urbanization Will Change The (Developing) World’, Forbes. Available from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielrunde/2015/02/24/urbanization-development-opportunity/. The Ecological Footprints of Tokyo. Available from: http://www.gdrc.org/uem/tokyo-fprint.html. Tokyo - Japan. Urban Problems, Solutions and Innovations. Available from: http://pilaje18.weebly.com/urban-problems-solutions-and-innovations.html. Urbanization and Urban Air Pollution. Available from: http://www.worldbank.org/depweb/beyond/beyondco/beg_10.pdf. Vogel, RK ‘Decentralization and Urban Governance: Reforming Tokyo Metropolitan Government’. Available from: http://www.vrm.ca/documents/vogel.pdf. Wong, D 2006 ‘Information Note. Environmental Changes in Tokyo’, Legislative Council Secretariat. Available from: http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr05-06/english/sec/library/0506in30e.pdf. ‘World Urbanization Prospects’, 2014, United Nations. Available from: http://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/Highlights/WUP2014-Highlights.pdf. Read More